Document details

Polyphony: Listening to the Listeners of Community Radio

Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge (2021), 187 pp.

ISBN 978-1-00-319128-5 (ebook); 978-0-367-53586-5 (hbk)

"The book discusses the socio-historical contexts which allowed community radio to thrive in India. It highlights its potential to create alternative spaces of representation, and opportunity and its importance in preserving and disseminating local knowledge and traditions. The author weaves together ethnographic research and literature, as well as personal narratives and stories of those involved in the field. Further, the monograph critically examines the impact of development agendas on community projects and processes, discussing in detail the pervasiveness of the development discourse in every aspect of community radio and how it manifests on air. It also illustrates the limitations of community radio, within the context of its participation in the 'spectacle of development'." (Publisher description)
1 Introduction, 1
2 "Don’t touch that dial", 8
3 Noise floor, 24
4 Tech specs, 42
5 Following the script, 61
6 Caller screening, 79
7 Feedback and distortion, 97
8 Normalize and Amplify, 114
9 Multitracking, 135
10 Pass the mic, 150
11 The mixdown, 171